Forum of tour operators was held in Yekaterinburg

For three years, the tourist flow to Yekaterinburg grew annually by about 300 thousand people, said Sergey Plakhotin. The city entered the top three leaders in the growth of tourist flow. By the end of 2026, the capital of the Urals can host a record 2.4 million guests.

As one of the main factors in attracting guests, Sergey Plakhotin noted the event program (“Music Night”, “Mad Days”, “Movement”, “Red Line”, the Year of Ural Rock and other events).

President of the Ural Tourism Association, head of the Ural branch of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Mikhail Maltsev called Yekaterinburg these days the tourist capital of Russia. The forum was held for the first time in Yekaterinburg, but gathered more than a thousand representatives of the industry - twice as many as in 2025.

Returning to their cities, tour operators will include the city in their programs or make it the basis of their tourist product, which in the long term will help attract even more guests to Yekaterinburg, said Mikhail Maltsev.

Deputy Director of the tourist office of Malaysia Krescence Sadatal said that Yekaterinburg is in third place in Russia in the number of tourists from Malaysia. There is potential for the development of cooperation, reports Yekaterinburg.rf.

Director of the Public Relations Department of Yekaterinburg Ekaterina Forukshina noted that the city is preparing a tourism development strategy until 2036, it is planned to present it before the end of 2026. The promotion of the tourist brand “The main thing is inside” continues: a new identity is planned to be presented for the historical birthday of Yekaterinburg.

It is planned to expand the functionality of the tourist site of the city, prepare a mobile version and application, by the end of 2026 - to launch English and Chinese versions of tourist materials.

The new project – “Tourist Passport” – is a game format for exploring the city, which is planned to be launched from January 1. On October 23, it is planned to open the main tourist information center on the street. Vojvodina 1.

Among the promotion tools, Ekaterina Forukshina noted the tourist tax, which helps to finance the increase in the recognition of the city.